There are many different orthopedic conditions that require surgical intervention. For example, bone fractures are a very common orthopedic problem that can occur because of a number of factors, such as injury, disease or progressive age. One type of surgical procedure used to treat fractures of the spine is vertebroplasty. Vertebroplasty involves injecting liquid bone cement into the interstices of the weakened bone under pressure. The bone cement subsequently hardens to fix the vertebral body. Another process is kyphoplasty, in which a mechanical bone tamping device is used to elevate the vertebral body. An orthopedic cement is then injected into the space created by the bone tamp. Specifically, a bone tamping device, such as a balloon, can be placed into the intervertebral body and inflated so that a cavity is formed in the weakened bone. This cavity can then be filled with a more viscous form of bone cement.
Another type of orthopedic condition is degenerative disc disease, which can involve degeneration and age-related changes in the macroscopic, histologic and biochemical composition and structure of the annulus fibrosus and/or the nucleus pulposus of an intervertebral disc. There are numerous surgical treatment options for painful degenerative disc disease that have ranged in the past from interbody fusions to total disc replacement. Another, more recent option is plasma disc decompression which involves removing tissue from the nucleus pulposus using low temperature plasma excision.
Many of the orthopedic tools used in these procedures and other orthopedic procedures involve complex, high profile components. In addition, many are not completely controllable by the user. For example, in balloon kyphoplasty the balloons used to create the cavity can expand along the path of least resistance forming an unusual or asymmetrical cavity which inhibits or compromises the ideal placement of the cement. Therefore, the dimensions of a balloon created cavity are largely beyond the control of the user and more or less dependent upon the extent of disruption of the architecture of the pathologic bone. Furthermore, a problem associated with current orthopedic tool placement systems used in many of these procedures is that they do not accommodate the vertical height limitations present in the operating room during the procedure. For example, because of the fluoroscopic imaging devices that are above the orthopedic tool placement systems, a user has limited vertical space to maneuver instruments through the tool placement systems.
Therefore, a more controllable, lower profile orthopedic tool and accompanying placement system that is also designed to accommodate the user during performance of the surgical procedure is needed.